Mario understandably wants to avoid pulling from the 2002 game but I see a lot of parallels and lessons to draw from.
The roles are reversed.
We believed the same things they belive about us right now. We had the dominant defense with 1st rounders littered around it. And we had an offense that was unstoppable with the same dominant WR in Andre Johnson.
But go back and think about what happened that day. What was the surprise? And it happened immediately, the first offensive play of the game. Their D Line came with their hair on fire

and made Dorsey shook and uncomfortable from the beginning. Our OLine got handled, not manhandled but definitely handled. Their defense was flying all over the place and they took away everything underneath, including the run but kinda left their CBs to duel with Johnson banking on Dorsey’s timing being off and his accuracy. And it worked.
Their offense was mostly horizontal, run based, dependent on one or two explosives a game, and unspectacular by playoff/postseason standards as well. But they believed and kept chopping at it. The play of their defense fueled the offense’s belief and their OLine eventually held up as well. Our offense right now is much better than OSU’s 2002 offense. If our OLine blocks ESPECIALLY the interior of Brockermeyer, Pancake, McCoy and Cooper, we win.
OSU won because of Terry Porter’s devilry. But they stayed close enough for him to pull that off by their trenches playing lights out and surprising our team.
They were counted out by the media and all metrics said they should lose as well! But then their trenches showed up and overachieved just for one night.
OSU hasn’t changed. Ohio doesn’t change. It’s the culture here to be the same everyday no matter what that is. We have to be tough on Wednesday. We have to have Blood In Our Eyes. They had nothing to lose and they played like it.
We must play in the trenches like it’s our last day on Earth. If we do, we beat them easily and won’t require a cheating late flag.
If we have no penalties, we will have no turnovers. They go hand and hand mentally. Play clean and tough. Dawson go vertical and run the ball between the Guards and Tackles.